Monday, January 30, 2012

I'm still trying to figure out how the writer managed to tie those two together. Drew Millard of Kill Screen (how retro) is trying to convey to the world what to expect out of 13-2, something he hasn't played or has little knowledge or, and decides to discuss why Skyrim is better. Again, I'm still working out the specifics. The article title made me go "huh?" and I had to look it over.

His argument goes something like this: FF is out of touch with it's fan base, much like Van Halen is and even when you try to dress it up in a new wrapper, it's still the same old thing. And apparently trying to review the same old thing is pointless.

But is it really?

I made a long post about it over a year ago with FF13 and Dragon Quest. Anyone who knows anything about gaming, even if you don't play RPG's knows about Dragon Quest. It's the same general premise, art, concept, and set-up with every game. And it still sells millions of copies within it's first week of release. And you know what Mr. Millard? People have been buying that new Van Halen album. It's allowing us to reminisce to a time when they were the kings of rock. We remember the days of late night parties, concerts, and waiting to see them on MTV before it became a network about Jersey and teenage mom's. Having the same style, the same tone, the same attitude isn't a bad thing. Consistency can work in the gaming world.

I don't think FF13 or 13-2 is trying to directly pander to American audiences. Because it doesn't need to. They seem to be doing just fine on their own. It doesn't need to be Skyrim nor a BioWare game. It needs to be the game that they wanted to develop, and if that means reusing some of the same stuff from their past projects, then so be it. Your precious Mass Effect 2 still undersold by a few hundred thousand copies when FF13 was released in the same month. Sticking to your guns isn't a bad thing.